But I realised that I hear the tune, but do not actually know what the words mean. “I love the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ as it fills me with positive feelings.
His unique approach makes the ancient hymn accessible, combined as it is with his trademark illustrations. In his latest, “My Hanuman Chalisa,” published by Rupa, the much acclaimed author demystifies it for the contemporary reader. Ultimately, we have to decide what works for us,” he maintained. Readers choose books and so they choose the woods, and the trees. When asked to share his views on the contemporary mythological writing in India and whether the reader is being shown “the wood” or “the tree,” Pattanaik said that he doesn’t “evaluate other people’s writings”. Of course there are perspectives and interpretations in their works, but these are not fictional accounts. On the other hand, writers like Pattanaik, Bibek Debroy and Arshia Sattar provide a greater focus on the ancient scriptures in their books, which mostly fall in the nonfiction genre. These books are immensely popular but their relevance to the truth is often questionable. And why not if you look at the popularity of the genre and the list of books that continue to dominate the bestseller lists? Most such books, including the very popular “The Shiva Trilogy”, “The Krishna Key” or “The Mahabharata Secret” are largely fictional narratives woven around some ancient scriptures.
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